Shuttle launch coming up

Set for 2:25 ET. Countdown going well as of the moment.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/03/11/shuttle.launch.ap/index.html

 

My grandparents live in Merritt Island. They can sit in their backyard and watch the Shuttle launch. Good Lord, that must look amazing.

 

Just watched it. That's some amazing stuff to watch.

 

Watching a launch in person never gets old. To see it at night (I have before, but not last night) is something you'll remember forever. You have to see it to believe it.

 

"Launch windows" and orbital mechanics have always mystified me.

In the year 2008 we have this amazing technology and navigational ability, yet to get from Point A to Point B in space you still need a "window" of a few days to get there. If weather or mechanical problems keep you from launching . . . you have to wait until the next launch window. You can't just point the thing where you want it to go, any time you want to go.

 

They have to rendezvous with the ISS, which is moving at 17,500 mph (5 miles per second).

They have to get into the exact same orbit, at the exact same apogee and perigee, the exact same inclination, etc etc.

 

If I spent every day for 10 years trying to understand this, I would fail to comprehend how you can do a space walk while orbiting the earth in an hour and a quarter. That is so far beyond my simple mind.

 

If you want to slow down in space, what do you need to do?

Hit the thrusters and accellerate, thereby achieving a higher (and slower) orbit.

Really.

Fascinating.

 

just gotta take really big steps

 

Seriously, though, why are we still sending people into space?

 

Cheney needs scouting of more targets in case Iran doesn't work out.